Leaders get thumbs down in poll

Voters compared David Cameron to a snake and Nick Clegg to a sheep in a recent YouGov poll

Voters have delivered a scathing end-of-term report on Britain's political leaders, comparing David Cameron and Ed Miliband to snakes and Nick Clegg to a sheep.

Participants in a YouGov poll for The Sun were asked which animal the three party leaders were most similar to.

And when asked where they deserve to go on holiday this summer as a reward for their efforts over the last year, the favourite response for all three was "nowhere at all - get back to work!"

The poll of more than 2,500 voters in July found a sharp decline in support for the coalition Government's record to date, with 27% approving and 58% disapproving - an overall rating of minus-31.

The finding marked a major turnaround compared to a similar poll in October last year, when some 43% approved and 39% disapproved of the Government's record, giving the coalition an overall rating of plus-4.

Just 33% of those questioned in July thought the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition partners were working well together, compared to 52% in October. And 59% now think they are working together badly, sharply up from the 39% recorded in October.

Belief in David Cameron's personal qualities also appears to have taken a knock over the past nine months. In a possible reflection of the damage done by a series of policy U-turns, just 22% described him as "decisive" - down 10 points over the past nine months - and 26% said he sticks to what he believes in (down eight points).

Mr Miliband improved his rating for sticking to what he believes in, rising four points to 18%. But numbers rating him charismatic dropped further to just 6%, while only 5% saw him as a natural leader. Of 18 prominent politicians, only Foreign Secretary William Hague was seen to be doing well in his job - by a ratio of 44% to 33%.

Some 39% said Mr Cameron was doing well and 48% badly, while 30% said Mr Miliband was doing a good job as Labour leader and 49% a bad job. Worst ratings were for Mr Clegg - 24% said he was doing a good job and 59% a bad one - Health Secretary Andrew Lansley (18% good and 52% bad) and Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke (22% to 54%).

Asked which of 14 animals the three party leaders were most similar to, Mr Cameron was compared to a snake (23%), Labrador (14%) or lizard (9%), Mr Miliband to a snake (12%), Labrador (11%) or mouse (10%) and Mr Clegg to a sheep (17%), poodle (15%) or mouse (13%).